#numicus

[mythological-art]

Venus Healing Aeneas

Artist: Merry Joseph Blondel (French, 1781-1853)

Date: circa 1820

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Venus Healing Aeneas

In this study for a larger painting of a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid, Merry Joseph Blondel depicted the epic poem’s protagonist, Aeneas, wounded and having dragged himself away from the battlefield. Hidden in a divine mist, the goddess Venus—Aeneas’s mother—and the river god Numicus come to his rescue. Numicus holds the hero as Venus administers a healing balm. The following lines from A. S. Kline’s translation of the poem describe the scene:

This Venus brought, her face veiled in dark mist, this, with its hidden curative powers, she steeped in river water, poured into a glittering basin, and sprinkled there healing ambrosial juice and fragrant panacea.

[gradyt18]

Livy Preface, Book One

Livy recognizes that through Rome's success in its long history, there have also been numerous growing pains which cannot be hidden from his audience. He also announces his role as a storyteller and perhaps even an entertainer, rightfully and maturely straying away from the label of a historian in this case. Livy also promises to tell the truth of the city's aforementioned growing pains as much as he would rather glorify the city's progress. He writes, "Events before the city was founded or planned, which have been handed down more as pleasing poetic fictions than as reliable records of historical events, I intend neither to affirm nor to refute." Again, Livy makes his point very clear that his duty is not to set truth apart from fact, but to examine the city with a lens of both accuracy and legend.

In the writing of his first account, Livy writes that there are two versions of what happened following Aeneas' arrival in King Latinus' territory: Aeneas defeated King Latinus and they reached peace while Aeneas was being offered a partner in marriage, followed by an alternate story where a battle never even occurred and Latinus and Aeneas instantly struck an alliance into the future. This mad ethe Trojans feel secure due to the fact they no longer felt nomadic and were also accepted. Then, following the death of King Latinus against the Rutili, Aeneas is said to have perished in battle against a joint alliance between the Rutili and the Etruscans. Aeneas is said to have been buried on the banks of the Numicus River and is referred to as Jupiter Indiges, which signified a godly status post-mortem for the Trojan leader.

[skivampire]

TODAY'S HOLIDAY

Juturnalia

According to Virgil, Juturna is the sister of Turnus, king of the Rutuli. In return for her virginity, Jupiter gave her immortality. Afterward, she was turned into a fountain of the same name near the Numicus, the river where Aeneas' dead body was found. The water from this fountain were used in sacrifices, particularly those in honor of the Roman goddess Vesta, and were believed to have curative powers. On January 11, a festival in honor of Juturna was observed by men working on aqueducts and wells. She was also celebrated at the Vulcanalia on August 23 as a protectress against fire.

[patentlygauche-blog]

To stand in awe of nothing, Numicus,is perhaps the one and only thing that can make a man happy and keep him so.

-Horace, The Epistles.

But what a boring existence that would be.

[skivampire]

Today’s Holiday January 11

Juturnalia

According to Virgil, Juturna is the sister of Turnus, king of the Rutuli. In return for her virginity, Jupiter gave her immortality. Afterwards she was turned into a fountain of the same name near the Numicus, the river where Aeneas’ dead body was found. The waters from this fountain were used in sacrifices, particularly those in honor of the Roman goddess Vesta, and were believed to have curative powers. On January 11, a festival in honor of Juturna was observed by men working on aqueducts and wells. She was also celebrated at the Vulcanalia on August 23 as a protectress against fire.