Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | The prologue to the Civil War includes a description of the four cardinal points, which reflects Lucan's interest in geography and astronomy (1.15–18). While the general meaning of the passage is quite obvious, the image characterising the west in the second part of line 15 (et nox ubi sidera condit) has led to various interpretations and controversies over the centuries. The present research provides a fresh and thorough examination of the vocabulary, imagery and internal structure of the line, as well as a comparison with texts drawn from the output of Lucan and other writers. These analyses allow us to conclude that sidera means the ‘star’ or the ‘fires’ of the sun and that the phrase refers to its setting on the horizon, as opposed to its rising in the east, mentioned in the first part of the line (Vnde uenit Titan). |
