Using intertext, Catullus refers to Homer’s The Iliad using descriptors such as ‘free from fear’, ‘swift’ and valiant’ to create the expectation that Achilles will be depicted as a glorious hero. However this is undermined by violent imagery which emphasises visual elements such as blood, death and fire. In traditional Roman literary descriptions of warfare, extending pity or clemency towards the defeated was seen as virtuous, but this is subverted by Achilles’ ruthless actions (Hope, V.M. 2007). This subversion of traditional expectations is continued through a simile where he is likened to a reaper cutting down Trojans without mercy. The simile is used to characterise Achilles as simply doing his duty without sympathy or pity, as he kills Trojans as though ‘beneath the burning sun’ which implies his ruthlessness and destructive power. The overall characterisation of Achilles demonstrates how virtus should not be idealised, as it can lead to immense death and –in regards to the death of Polyxena- how competing qualities of amores and virtus are idealised at the expense of
Using intertext, Catullus refers to Homer’s The Iliad using descriptors such as ‘free from fear’, ‘swift’ and valiant’ to create the expectation that Achilles will be depicted as a glorious hero. However this is undermined by violent imagery which emphasises visual elements such as blood, death and fire. In traditional Roman literary descriptions of warfare, extending pity or clemency towards the defeated was seen as virtuous, but this is subverted by Achilles’ ruthless actions (Hope, V.M. 2007). This subversion of traditional expectations is continued through a simile where he is likened to a reaper cutting down Trojans without mercy. The simile is used to characterise Achilles as simply doing his duty without sympathy or pity, as he kills Trojans as though ‘beneath the burning sun’ which implies his ruthlessness and destructive power. The overall characterisation of Achilles demonstrates how virtus should not be idealised, as it can lead to immense death and –in regards to the death of Polyxena- how competing qualities of amores and virtus are idealised at the expense of