In Roman mythology , Discordia is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Eris , goddess of strife and discord. She was the daughter of Nox (Night) and Erebus . Like Eris, Discordia has no mythology other than her involvement in the Judgement of Paris .
81-408: Unlike her opposite Concordia , Discordia was not a cult goddess, but simply a literary personification, and like Eris was especially associated with the strife and discord in war. She was, in particular, associated with Roman civil war. The Greek personification of strife and discord, Eris , according to Hesiod 's Theogony , is the daughter of Nyx (Night) with no father. Similarly, according to
162-472: A "temple to Discord". He goes on to ask "why Concord should be a goddess, but Discord not", and—in what he describes as having "our fun with such inanities"— concludes that: Thus the Romans to their peril chose to live under the menace of so evil a goddess unplacated, and never reflected that the tale of Troy and its destruction begins with the resentment of Discord. You know, of course, that when she
243-561: A Roman coin of the gens Aemilia (denarius of Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus ) inspired Laura Cretara for the obverse of Italy's commemorative 1000 lire of 1970, "Roma Capitale". The oldest Temple of Concord , built in 367 BC by Marcus Furius Camillus , stood on the Roman Forum . Other temples and shrines in Rome dedicated to Concordia were largely geographically related to the main temple, and included (in date order): In Pompeii ,
324-429: A battle of gods, with "rent robe", Discordia "strides exultant": Monstrous gods of every form and barking Anubis wield weapons against Neptune and Venus and against Minerva. In the middle of the fray storms Mavors, embossed in steel, with the grim Furies from on high; and in rent robe Discord [ Discordia ] strides exultant, while Bellona follows her with bloody scourge. Discordia, under the influence of Virgil, appears in
405-420: A blockade of Pompey at Brundisium , but the general makes a narrow escape to Greece. Book 3 : As his ships sail, Pompey is visited in a dream by Julia , his dead wife and Caesar's daughter. Caesar returns to Rome and plunders the city, while Pompey reviews potential foreign allies. Caesar then heads for Spain, but his troops are detained at the lengthy siege of Massilia (Marseille). The city ultimately falls in
486-452: A bloody naval battle. Book 4 : The first half of this book is occupied with Caesar's victorious campaign in Spain against Afranius and Petreius. Switching scenes to Pompey, his forces intercept a raft carrying Caesarians, who prefer to kill each other rather than be taken prisoner. The book concludes with Curio launching an African campaign on Caesar's behalf, where he is defeated and slain by
567-617: A deity of the third celestial region. Discordia/Eris is an important figure within the new religious movement Discordianism . Prudentius , Preface. Daily Round. Divinity of Christ. Origin of Sin. Fight for Mansoul. Against Symmachus 1 . Translated by H. J. Thomson. Loeb Classical Library No. 387. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1949. ISBN 978-0-674-99426-3 . Online version at Harvard University Press . Concordia (mythology) In ancient Roman religion , Concordia (means "concord" or "harmony" in Latin )
648-419: A fruitful field, a lofty oak, bearing the people's spoils of old and generals' hallowed dedications; clinging with roots no longer strong, by its own weight it stands firm, and spreading naked branches through the air, it makes shade with trunk, not foliage; and though it totters, ready to fall beneath the first Eurus, though all around so many trees upraise themselves with sturdy trunks, yet it alone
729-497: A javelin through her tongue, and: Countless hands tear the deadly beast in pieces, each seizing bits to scatter to the breezes, or throw to the dogs, or proffer to the devouring carrion crows, or thrust into the foul, stinking sewers, or give to the sea-monsters for their own. The whole corpse is torn asunder and parcelled out to unclean creatures; so perishes frightful Heresy, rent limb from limb. Martianus Capella (fl. c. 410–420), has Discordia, along with Seditio (Sedition) as being
810-418: A message back but is himself nearly drowned. Finally, the storm subsides, and the armies face each other at full strength. With battle at hand, Pompey sends his wife to the island of Lesbos . Book 6 : Pompey's troops force Caesar's armies – featuring the heroic centurion Scaeva – to fall back to Thessaly . Lucan describes the wild Thessalian terrain as the armies wait for battle the next day. The remainder of
891-540: A mix of fact and fiction, designed to entertain and thrill an audience. Some historians consider the possibility that Roman commentators exaggerated the barbaric nature of the Celts , perhaps in order to justify the Roman annexation of their lands, and attempts to subjugate and Romanise them. Although it is true that the Celts did practice human sacrifice , it is unlikely that it was as barbaric as Lucan suggested, it
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#1732797620826972-520: A temple (the Temple of Concord ) dedicated to her in the Roman Forum . The opposition between concordia (concord) and discordia (discord), and their personifications Concordia and Discordia—a dichotomy made use of by Virgil in the Aeneid —becomes, for late antiquity Latin poets, "something of an obsession". Augustine , in his City of God (426 AD)—responding to the accusation that
1053-603: A temple to her adversary on the spot where that slaughter—the spot where her handiwork, that is—had taken place! The opposition of Concordia and Discordia is particularly explicit in the Christian poet Prudentius 's early fifth-century allegory Psychomachia ("Battle of the Soul"), in which armies of personified Virtues and Vices do battle. Here the Vice Discordia becomes explicitly identified with religious heresy. After
1134-528: A thorough critical re-evaluation, to re-emerge as a major expression of Neronian politics and aesthetics, a poem whose studied artifice enacts a complex relationship between poetic fantasy and historical reality." The poem was begun around AD 61 and several books were in circulation before the Emperor Nero and Lucan had a bitter falling out. Lucan continued to work on the epic – despite Nero's prohibition against any publication of Lucan's poetry – and it
1215-479: Is Heresy. The God I have is variable, now lesser, now greater, now double, now single; when I please, he is unsubstantial, a mere apparition, or again the soul within us, when I choose to make a mock of his divinity. My teacher is Belial, my home and country the world. At which point Faith, the Virtues' queen, unwilling to hear any more of their "outrageous prisoner’s blasphemies", stopped Discordia's speech by driving
1296-488: Is about to cross the Rubicon, the ghost of Julia appearing to Pompey, Pompey's dream of his happy past, and Caesar and his troops' dream of battle and destruction. All four of these dream-visions are placed strategically throughout the poem, "to provide balance and contrast". In regards to the second category, Lucan describes a number of portents, two oracular episodes, and Erichtho's necromantic rite. This manifestation of
1377-499: Is also mentioned in non-epic poetry, also often associated with Roman civil war. She makes an appearance in a civil war parody in Petronius 's Satyricon (late first century AD), where she is described as follows: Discord [ Discordia ] with disheveled hair raised her Stygian head up toward the gods of heaven. On her face blood had clotted, tears ran from her bruised eyes, her teeth covered in rusty scales were eaten away, her tongue
1458-516: Is beguiled by the Ptolemy's sister Cleopatra . A banquet is held; Pothinus, Ptolemy's cynical and bloodthirsty chief minister, plots an assassination of Caesar but is killed in his surprise attack on the palace. A second attack comes from Ganymede, an Egyptian noble, and the poem breaks off abruptly as Caesar is fighting for his life. Almost all scholars agree that the Pharsalia as we now have it
1539-514: Is contrasted with Concordia, with Discordia becoming a symbol of Christian discord and heresy. The Roman poet Ennius seems to have been the first to introduce "loathsome Discord" ( Discordia taetra ) when, in his second-century BC epic Annales , he describes Discordia as breaking open the "portals of War". Virgil , in the Aeneid (first century BC), has "maddening Strife ( Discordia demens ), her snaky locks entwined with bloody ribbons" as one of
1620-491: Is fearful of retribution from Caesar and plots to murder Pompey when he lands. Pompey suspects treachery; he consoles his wife and rows alone to the shore, meeting his fate with Stoic poise. His headless body is flung into the ocean, but washes up on shore and receives a humble burial from Cordus. Book 9 : Pompey's wife mourns her husband as Cato takes up leadership of the Senate's cause. He plans to regroup and heroically marches
1701-468: Is fond of discontinuity. He presents his narrative as a series of discrete episodes often without any transitional or scene-changing lines, much like the sketches of myth strung together in Ovid's Metamorphoses . The poem is more naturally organized on principles such as aesthetic balance or correspondence of scenes between books rather than the need to follow a story from a single narrative point of view. Lucan
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#17327976208261782-813: Is more likely to have taken the form of a votive offering to the Celtic gods – possibly in response to a natural or man made disaster, such as a famine or war. During the Iron Age , votive offerings became increasingly more precious and labour-intensive, for example the Battersea Shield found at an ancient crossing point of the Thames, or the Gundestrup cauldron , found in Denmark. The druid's had extraordinary power and influence, and were able to arrange
1863-453: Is somewhat puzzling. Some scholars have tried to read these lines ironically, but most see it as a traditional dedication written at a time before the (supposed) true depravity of Lucan's patron was revealed. The extant "Lives" of the poet support this interpretation, stating that a portion of the Pharsalia was in circulation before Lucan and Nero had their falling out. Furthermore, according to Braund, Lucan's negative portrayal of Caesar in
1944-401: Is that Lucan intended for his poem to be sixteen books long and to end with the assassination of Caesar. This theory, too, has its problems, namely that Lucan would have been required to introduce and rapidly develop characters to replace Pompey and Cato. It also might have given the work a "happy ending", which seems inconsistent, tonally, with the poem as a whole. Ultimately, Braund argues that
2025-554: Is the goddess who embodies agreement in marriage and society. Her Greek equivalent is usually regarded as Harmonia , with musical harmony a metaphor for an ideal of social concord or entente in the political discourse of the Republican era . She was thus often associated with Pax ("Peace") in representing a stable society. As such, she is more closely related to the Greek concept of homonoia ( likemindedness ), which
2106-433: Is true, and Braund argues that "the supernatural in all its manifestations played a highly significant part in the structuring of the epic". Braund sees the supernatural as falling into two categories: "dreams and visions" and "portents, prophecies, and consultations of supernatural powers". In regards to the first category, the poem features four explicit and important dream and vision sequences: Caesar's vision of Roma as he
2187-458: Is unfinished. Some debate exists, however, as to whether the poem was unfinished at the time of Lucan's death, or if the final few books of the work were lost at some point. Susanna Braund notes that little evidence has been found one way or the other, and that this question must "remain a matter of speculation." Some argue that Lucan intended to end his poem with the Battle of Philippi (42 BC) or
2268-402: Is venerated. By comparing Caesar to a bolt of lightning, and Pompey to a large tree on the verge of death, Lucan poetically implies early on in the Pharsalia that Caesar will strike and fell Pompey. The grand exception to this generally bleak depiction of characters is Cato, who stands as a Stoic ideal in the face of a world gone mad (he alone, for example, refuses to consult oracles to know
2349-432: The Battle of Actium (31 BC). Both these hypotheses seem unlikely, as they would have required Lucan to pen a work many times larger than what is extant: For instance, the ten-book poem we have today covers a total time of twenty months; were the poet to have continued this pace, his work would cover a time span of six to seventeen years, which scholars consider unlikely. An alternative considered "more attractive" by Braund,
2430-464: The Judgement of Paris , is essentially the same as that of Eris. As told by Hyginus, the story is as follows. All the gods, except Discordia, were invited by Jupiter to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis . She came anyway and was refused admission, so she threw an apple through the doorway, saying that the most beautiful should take it. The three goddesses, Juno , Venus , and Minerva each claimed
2511-445: The Pharsalia , this simile holds, and Caesar is continuously depicted as an active force, who strikes with great power. Pompey, on the other hand, is old and past his prime, and years of peacetime have turned him soft. Susanna Braund argues that Lucan "has taken the weaker, essentially human , elements of Aeneas' character—Aeneas doubting his mission, Aeneas as husband and lover—and bestowed them upon Pompey." And while this portrays
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2592-421: The propitiation of their gods by acts of human sacrifice : List of deities mentioned in book 1: The source of Lucan's information is not known – Pharsalia was written about 100 years after the Battle of Pharsalus (9 August 48 BC). It is possible that oral tradition's about the pagan practices of the Celts were well known in Roman society before Lucan wrote Pharsalia , and that variants arose that were
2673-547: The 410 AD Sack of Rome was the result of Christianity and the failure to appease the pagan gods—argues that Rome's pre-Christian history, which was rife with civil discord and civil war, might just as well be said to have been the result of Rome's failure to appease Discordia. He notes that, following the dedication of the Temple of Concord in Rome, there was even worse civil discord, and remarks sarcastically that it would have been more appropriate for Rome to have built instead
2754-622: The African King Juba. Book 5 : The Senate in exile confirms Pompey the true leader of Rome. Appius consults the Delphic oracle to learn of his fate in the war, and leaves with a misleading prophecy. In Italy, after defusing a mutiny, Caesar marches to Brundisium and sails across the Adriatic to meet Pompey's army. Only a portion of Caesar's troops complete the crossing when a storm prevents further transit; he tries to personally send
2835-790: The Civil War ), more commonly referred to as the Pharsalia ( Latin: [pʰarˈsaːlia] , feminine singular), is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan , detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Great . The poem's title is a reference to the Battle of Pharsalus , which occurred in 48 BC, near Pharsalus , Thessaly , in Northern Greece . Caesar decisively defeated Pompey in this battle, which occupies all of
2916-707: The Roman mythographer Hyginus , Discordia is the daughter of Nox (Night), although Hyginus gives her father as Erebus . Hyginus lists many siblings of Discord, similar to but different from the list of siblings of Eris as given by Hesiod. For example both are siblings of "Old Age" (the Greek Geras and Roman Senecus), "Death" (the Greek Thanatos and Roman Mors ), the Fates (the Greek Moirai and Roman Parcae ), and Nemesis ("Indignation"). However while
2997-637: The apple. This started the quarrel which led to the Judgement of Paris, and ultimately to the outbreak of the Trojan War . Unlike her opposite, Concordia, Discordia was not a cult goddess, and was little more than a literary personification. As a personification of discord, she is a frequent occurrence in Latin epic poetry , and, and in particular, civil discord and civil war, through the first-century AD. In late antiquity Latin Christian literature, Discordia
3078-515: The army across Africa to join forces with King Juba, a trek that occupies most of the middle section of the book. On the way, he passes an oracle but refuses to consult it, citing Stoic principles. Caesar visits Troy and pays respects to his ancestral gods. A short time later he arrives in Egypt; when Ptolemy's messenger presents him with the head of Pompey, Caesar feigns grief to hide his joy at Pompey's death. Book 10 : Caesar arrives in Egypt, where he
3159-497: The army of Vices had been defeated, Discordia, in disguise, entered the camp of the celebrating Virtues, seeking to attack surreptitiously the "greatest" of the Virtues Concordia: wearing the counterfeit shape of a friend. Her torn mantle and her whip of many snakes were left lying far behind amid the heaps of dead on the field of battle, while she herself, displaying her hair wreathed with leafy olive, answered cheerfully
3240-582: The best hypothesis is that Lucan's original intent was a twelve-book poem, mirroring the length of the Aeneid . The best internal argument for this is that in his sixth book Lucan features a necromantic ritual that parallels and inverts many of the motifs found in Virgil's sixth book (which details Aeneas' consultation with the Sibyl and his subsequent descent into the underworld). Had the book been extended to twelve books, Braund contends that it would have ended with
3321-493: The book follows Pompey's son Sextus , who wishes to know the future. He finds the most powerful witch in Thessaly, Erichtho , and she reanimates the corpse of a dead soldier in a terrifying ceremony. The soldier predicts Pompey's defeat and Caesar's eventual assassination. Book 7 : The soldiers are pressing for battle, but Pompey is reluctant until Cicero convinces him to attack. The Caesarians are victorious, and Lucan laments
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3402-570: The company of other personifications) in his Thebaid concerning the fraternal war, for the kingship of Thebes , between the two sons of Oedipus , Eteocles and Polynices . The Argonautica , Valerius' epic poem about Jason 's search for the Golden Fleece , where the theme of civil discord is pervasive, also mentions the goddess. In Book 2, Discordia, among other personifications, hurries to assist Venus ("the Martian consort") to incite
3483-582: The death of Cato, and his subsequent apotheosis as a Stoic hero. Conversely, the Latinist Jamie Masters argues the opposite, that the finale of Book 10 is indeed the ending to the work as Lucan intended. Masters devotes an entire chapter to this hypothesis in his book Poetry and Civil War in Lucan's Bellum Civile (1992), arguing that by being open-ended and ambiguous, the poem's conclusion avoids "any kind of resolution, but [still] preserves
3564-532: The early portion of the poem was not likely meant as criticism of Nero, and it may have been Lucan's way of warning the new emperor about the issues of the past. Lucan breaks from epic tradition by minimizing, and in certain cases, completely ignoring (and some argue, denying) the existence of the traditional Roman deities. This is in marked contrast to his predecessors, Virgil and Ovid, who used anthropomorphized gods and goddesses as major players in their works. According to Susanna Braund, by choosing to not focus on
3645-441: The end, Lucan makes his sentiments known in the famous line Victrix causa deis placuit sed Victa Catoni – "The victorious cause pleased the gods, but the vanquished [cause] pleased Cato." Given Lucan's clear anti-imperialism, the flattering Book I dedication to Nero – which includes lines like multum Roma tamen debet ciuilibus armis | quod tibi res acta est – "But Rome is greater by these civil wars, because it resulted in you" –
3726-482: The epic's seventh book. In the early twentieth century, translator J. D. Duff , while arguing that "no reasonable judgment can rank Lucan among the world's great epic poets", notes that the work is notable for Lucan's decision to eschew divine intervention and downplay supernatural occurrences in the events of the story. Scholarly estimation of Lucan's poem and poetry has since changed, as explained by commentator Philip Hardie in 2013: "In recent decades, it has undergone
3807-712: The flesh of the dead. Most of the main characters featured in the Pharsalia are terribly flawed and unattractive. Caesar, for instance, is presented as a successful military leader, but he strikes fear into the hearts of people and is extremely destructive. Lucan conveys this by using a simile (Book 1, lines 151–7) that compares Caesar to a thunderbolt : qualiter expressum uentis per nubila fulmen aetheris inpulsi sonitu mundique fragore emicuit rupitque diem populosque pauentes terruit obliqua praestringens lumina flamma: in sua templa furit, nullaque exire uetante materia magnamque cadens magnamque reuertens dat stragem late sparsosque recolligit ignes. Just so flashes out
3888-429: The force of all the shaken earth bent on the fray; and burst asunder, to the common guilt, a kingdom's compact; eagle with eagle met, standard to standard, spear opposed to spear. Events throughout the poem are described in terms of insanity and sacrilege. Far from glorious, the battle scenes are portraits of bloody horror, where nature is ravaged to build terrible siege engines and wild animals tear mercilessly at
3969-443: The future glories of Rome under Augustan rule, Lucan uses the scene to present a bitter and gory pessimism concerning the loss of liberty under the coming empire. Like all Silver Age poets, Lucan received the rhetorical training common to upper-class young men of the period. The suasoria – a school exercise where students wrote speeches advising an historical figure on a course of action – no doubt inspired Lucan to compose some of
4050-422: The future). Pompey also seems transformed after Pharsalus, becoming a kind of stoic martyr ; calm in the face of certain death upon arrival in Egypt, he receives virtual canonization from Lucan at the start of book IX. This elevation of Stoic and Republican principles is in sharp contrast to the ambitious and imperial Caesar, who becomes an even greater monster after the decisive battle. Even though Caesar wins in
4131-407: The gods, Lucan emphasizes and underscores the human role in the atrocities of the Roman civil war. James Duff, on the other hand, argues that "[Lucan] was dealing with Roman history and with fairly recent events; and the introduction of the gods as actors must have been grotesque". This, however, is not to say that the Pharsalia is devoid of any supernatural phenomenon; in fact, quite the opposite
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#17327976208264212-420: The hearts of cities. Whoever hides from the fray will be lost; let no woman delay, no child, no man wasted by old age; let the earth itself quake and the shattered houses join the fight. You, Marcellus, uphold the law. You, Curio, stir up the rabble crowds. You, Lentulus, do not slow down the god of war. You, divine Caesar, why are you a laggard in your arms, why do you not break down the gates, why do you not strip
4293-684: The high priestess Eumachia dedicated a building to Concordia Augusta. Harmonians and some Discordians equate Concordia with Aneris . Her opposite is thus Discordia, or the Greek Eris . The asteroid 58 Concordia is named after her. There is a temple named after her in Agrigento, Sicily. It's located in the Valley of the Temples. Pharsalia De Bello Civili ( Latin pronunciation: [deː ˈbɛlloː kiːˈwiːliː] ; On
4374-452: The horrors of war in careful detail). Because Lucan is on both of the characters' sides whilst also supporting neither, the poem is inherently at war with itself. Furthermore, because Lucan seems to place numerous obstacles before Caesar, he can be seen as opposing Caesar's actions. However, since Lucan still chooses to record them in song, he—being the poet and thus the one who has the final say on what goes into his work—is in some ways waging
4455-452: The joyous revellers. But she has a dagger hidden under her raiment, seeking to attack thee, thou greatest of Virtues, thee alone, Concord, of all this number, with bitter treachery. But Discordia is discovered, and with the army of Virtues, swords drawn, surrounding her and demanding to know "her race and name, her country and her faith, what God she worships, of what nation he that sent her", she answers: I am called Discord, and my other name
4536-772: The leader as indecisive, slow to action, and ultimately ineffective, it does make him the only main character shown to have any sort of "emotional life." What is more, Lucan at times explicitly roots for Pompey. But nevertheless, the leader is doomed in the end. Lucan compares Pompey to a large oak-tree (Book 1, lines 136–43), which is still quite magnificent due to its size but on the verge of tipping over: qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro exuuias ueteris populi sacrataque gestans dona ducum nec iam ualidis radicibus haerens pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos effundens trunco, non frondibus, efficit umbram, et quamuis primo nutet casura sub Euro, tot circum siluae firmo se robore tollant, sola tamen colitur. Like in
4617-448: The loss of liberty. Caesar is especially cruel as he mocks the dying Domitius and forbids cremation of the dead Pompeians. The scene is punctuated by a description of wild animals gnawing at the corpses, and a lament from Lucan for Thessalia, infelix – ill-fated Thessaly. Book 8 : Pompey himself escapes to Lesbos, reunites with his wife, then goes to Cilicia to consider his options. He decides to enlist aid from Egypt, but King Ptolemy
4698-564: The many terrible evils who reside at the entrance to his Underworld . Discordia was particularly associated with Roman internal conflict and civil war. Like the Homeric Eris in the Iliad , who is one of the divinities active in the Trojan War , Virgil makes Discordia one of the divine participants (as depicted on the prophetic Shield of Aeneas ) at the Battle of Actium , during the Roman civil war between Octavian and Mark Antony . In
4779-412: The metaphor of internal discord and allows it to determine the way the story is told by weaving it into the fabric of the poem itself. Masters proposes that Lucan's work is both "Pompeian" (in the sense that it celebrates the memory of Pompey, revels in delay, and decries the horrors of civil war) and "Caesarian" (in the sense that it still recounts Pompey's death, eventually overcomes delay, and describes
4860-400: The most ultimate votive offering – the sacrifice of a person of importance – for example, a tribal leader. The Gundestrup cauldron , found in Denmark, is an outstanding example of Iron Age art and craftsmanship. Experts consider the possibility that the cauldron was made in the lower Danube basin, due to its Thracian-style of metalworking. The internal plates C and E possibly depict
4941-422: The north; Pharsalia , book 1, lines 444-447. Lucan alludes to the barbaric nature of the Celts , while describing the call-out of troops from Gaul , at the beginning of Caesar's civil war . ..."Et quibus immitis placatur sanguine diro Teutates, horrensque feris altaribus Hesus, Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae. – Lucan , Pharsalia , book 1, lines 444-446. The Celts were accused of
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#17327976208265022-534: The present war and introduces Caesar in northern Italy. Despite an urgent plea from the Spirit of Rome to lay down his arms, Caesar crosses the Rubicon , rallies his troops and marches south to Rome, joined by Curio along the way. The book closes with panic in the city, terrible portents and visions of the disaster to come. Book 2 : In a city overcome by despair, an old veteran presents a lengthy interlude regarding
5103-478: The previous civil war that pitted Marius against Sulla . Cato the Younger is introduced as a heroic man of principle; as abhorrent as civil war is, he argues to Brutus that it is better to fight than do nothing. After siding with Pompey—the lesser of two evils—he remarries his ex-wife, Marcia , and heads to the field. Caesar continues south through Italy and is delayed by Domitius' brave resistance. He attempts
5184-525: The siblings of Eris are all negative personified abstractions, some of Discordia's are positive, such as Euphrosyne ("Cheerfulness"), and Amicitia ("Friendship"), while others are not personified abstractions at all, such as the Giant Porphyrion , or Styx , the goddess and river of the Underworld. Also unlike Eris, Discordia has no children. The Roman story of Discordia's involvement in
5265-675: The speeches found in the text. Lucan also follows the Silver Age custom of punctuating his verse with short, pithy lines or slogans known as sententiae , a rhetorical tactic used to grab the attention of a crowd interested in oratory as a form of public entertainment. Quintilian singles out Lucan as a writer clarissimus sententiis – "most famous for his sententiae ", and for this reason magis oratoribus quam poetis imitandus – "(he is) to be imitated more by orators than poets". His style makes him unusually difficult to read. Finally, in another break with Golden Age literary techniques, Lucan
5346-418: The supernatural is more public, and serves many purposes, including to reflect "Rome's turmoil on the supernatural plane", as well as simply to "contribute to the atmosphere of sinster foreboding" by describing disturbing rituals. According to Jamie Masters, Lucan's Pharsalia is not just a poem about a civil war, but rather in a metaphorical way is a civil war. In other words, he argues that Lucan embraces
5427-444: The thunderbolt shot forth by the winds through clouds, accompanied by the crashing of the heavens and sound of shattered ether; it splits the sky and terrifies the panicked people, searing eyes with slanting flame; against its own precincts it rages, and, with nothing solid stopping its course, both as it falls and then returns great is the devastation dealt far and wide before it gathers again its scattered fires. Throughout
5508-468: The towns of their walls, and seize their treasures? You, Pompey the Great, do you not know how to defend Rome's citadels? So, seek out the alien walls of Epidamnus, and stain red the bays of Thessaly with human blood.’ All was done on earth, just as Discord ordered it. Discordia's opposite, Concordia ("Concord"), the Roman equivalent of the Greek Harmonia ("Harmony"), was a Roman goddess who had
5589-450: The unconventional premises of its subject-matter: evil without alternative, contradiction without compromise, civil war without end". The poem is popularly known as the Pharsalia , largely due to lines 985–986 in Book 9, which read, Pharsalia nostra / Vivet ("Our Pharsalia shall live on"). However, many scholars, such as J. D. Duff and Braund, note that this is a recent name given to
5670-587: The war himself. Ultimately, Masters refers to the binary opposition that he sees throughout the entire poem as Lucan's "schizophrenic poetic persona". Though the Pharsalia is an historical epic, it would be wrong to think Lucan is only interested in the details of history itself. As one commentator has pointed out, Lucan is more concerned "with the significance of events rather than the events themselves." ..."And those who pacify with blood accursed Savage Teutates , Hesus ' horrid shrines, And Taranis ' altars, cruel as were those Loved by Diana, goddess of
5751-507: The warring Colchian brothers Aeetes and Perses , has: "the curved blades doth discord [ discordia ] entangle and lacerate the panic-stricken cars", then goes on to liken the battle between the two brothers to Roman civil war. While preparing Jason for his encounter with the Colchis Bulls , Medea handing him his helm says: "take again this crested helm which Discord [ Discordia ] held but now in her death-bringing hand". Discordia
5832-409: The women of Lemnos to make (civil) war on their husbands: Straightway Fear and insensate Strife [ Discordia ] from her Getic lair, dark-browed Anger with pale cheeks, Treachery, Frenzy and towering above the rest Death, her cruel hands bared, come hastening up at the first sound of the Martian consort's pealing voice that gave the signal. Later in Book 6, Valerius, describing the crashing chariots of
5913-513: The work to which the Pharsalia is most naturally compared. Lucan frequently appropriates ideas from Virgil's epic and "inverts" them to undermine their original, heroic purpose. Sextus' visit to the Thracian witch Erichtho provides an example; the scene and language clearly reference Aeneas' descent into the underworld (also in Book VI), but while Virgil's description highlights optimism toward
5994-451: The work, and that the earliest manuscripts of the poem refer to it as De Bello Civili ( Concerning the Civil War ). Braund further argues that calling the poem Pharsalia "excessively ... privilege[s] ... an episode which occupies only one book and occurs in the centre of the poem, rather than at its climax." Lucan is heavily influenced by Latin poetic tradition, most notably Ovid 's Metamorphoses and of course Virgil 's Aeneid ,
6075-628: The works of the four later first-century AD Roman epic poets Lucan , Silius Italicus , Statius , and Valerius Flaccus . The word discordia (whether personified or not) appears seven times in Lucan's Pharsalia , his epic poem about the decisive battle in Caesar's civil war . Silius, in his epic Punica about the Second Punic War , begins his Battle of Cannae with Virgil's "maddening strife" ( Discordia demens ) invading heaven and forcing "the gods to fight". Statius involves Discordia (in
6156-412: Was also represented by a goddess . Concordia Augusta was cultivated in the context of Imperial cult . Dedicatory inscriptions to her, on behalf of emperors and members of the imperial family, were common. In Roman art, Concordia was depicted sitting, wearing a long cloak and holding onto a patera (sacrificial bowl), a cornucopia (symbol of prosperity), or a caduceus (symbol of peace). She
6237-681: Was considered among the ranks of Homer and Virgil. Lucan emphasizes the despair of his topic in the poem's first seven lines (the same length as the opening to Virgil's Aeneid ): Bella per Emathios plus quam civilia campos iusque datum sceleri canimus, populumque potentem in sua victrici conversum viscera dextra cognatasque acies, et rupto foedere regni certatum totis concussi viribus orbis in commune nefas, infestisque obvia signis signa, pares aquilas et pila minantia pilis. Wars worse than civil on Emathian plains, and crime let loose we sing; how Rome's high race plunged in her vitals her victorious sword; armies akin embattled, with
6318-538: Was dripping with decaying matter, her face beset with snakes, beneath her torn clothes her breasts writhed, and in her bloody hand she waved a quivering torch. Urging all to war—in particular several notable figures in Caesar's civil war: Julius Caesar , Pompey the Great , Marcellus , Curio , Lentulus —Discordia: spewed forth these words from her maddened breast: ‘All nations, take up arms now and fill your hearts with fire, take up arms, and hurl torches into
6399-506: Was left unfinished when Lucan was compelled to suicide as part of the Pisonian conspiracy in AD 65. In total, ten books were written and all survive; the tenth book breaks off abruptly with Caesar in Egypt. Book 1 : After a brief introduction lamenting the idea of Romans fighting Romans and an ostensibly flattering dedication to Nero , the narrative summarizes background material leading up to
6480-482: Was not invited with the other gods, she contrived to set three goddesses disputing by placing before them the golden apple. Hence the quarrel of the deities, the victory of Venus, the kidnapping of Helen and the destruction of Troy. It follows that if she was perhaps offended because she of all the gods had obtained no temple in the city, and was therefore already upsetting the state with such great tumults, she may well have been far more fiercely aroused when she saw erected
6561-538: Was often shown in between two other figures, such as standing between two members of the Imperial family shaking hands. She was associated with a pair of female deities, such as Pax and Salus , or Securitas and Fortuna . She was also paired with Hercules and Mercury , representing "Security and Luck" respectively. Several imperial coins depicted the goddess Concordia, such as those issued by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus . The representation of Concordia on
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