"UTNON [FORMA] CYGNORUM,SICALBISPROXIMACYGNIS":

POETOLOGY,EPICDEFINITION,AND SWAN
IMAGERY IN OVID'S METAMORPHOSES

SOPHIA PAPAIOANNOU

UNSUCCESSFULAPPEAL TO DIOMEDES IN Aen. 11.243-295, inviting

VENULUS'
him to join the Rutulian forces in the war against Aeneas, is among the
few Vergilian episodes recast at length in Ovid's Aeneid (Met. 14.457-511).
The selection of the episode clearly relates to the dominant presence of the
metamorphosistheme in the legend of Diomedes, who witnessed his comrades
changing into birds. Ovid relatesthe transformationin detail (Met. 14.497-509),
yet, curiously,does not state with precisionthe identityof the newly formedbird
(lines 508-509):
Si volucrumquaesit dubiarumforma
requiris
Ut noncygnorum,
sicalbisproxima
cygnis
"Ifyouwonderwhatmightbe the appearance of thesedubiousbirds,althoughit is notthe
one of swans,it nevertheless
resembles
mostcloselythatof whiteswans."
Recent critics seem more concerned to justify Ovid's decision against calling
these birds swans1than to explain why the poet wishes to describe Diomedes'
birds as "similarto swans"when he need not have furnishedany identificationat
all. It is the contention of the present paper that the birds of Diomedes serve
as a metaphor for Ovid's poetic style. Inspiredby the associationsof the swan
both with traditionalepic and lofty poetry in general,regardlessof genre,2Ovid
utilizes swan imagery to underscorethe sublime artistryand epic aspirationsof
his complex carmenperpetuum,while also differentiatingit from traditionalepic
archetypes.
None of the surviving sources relating the transformationof Diomedes'
companions identifies the newly formed birds as swans. The earliest known
reference to the story occurs in the work of a fourth-centurywriter of Italian
history named Lykos (cf. Antigonus Mirabilia 172), who explains that on the

1See, for example, Musgrove 1998: 189, arguing that Ovid decided against the swan in this
episode because he had already narratedtwo different accounts of the swan's origins: in Met.
2.367-380, Ovid narratesthe transformationof Phaethon'sfriend Cygnus, while in 12.72-145, he
narratesanotherswan aetionin the transformationof Cycnus, the son of Mars. Ovid uses the spelling
"cycnus"for the swan on another occasion, in Book 7; in my discussion throughoutI am following
Ovid's orthography.
2"The swans are the singers of heroic epic, 'birds of Maeonian [Homeric] song' in Horace's
words," as Putnam says (1970: 310). The swan is first associatedwith sublime, non-epic, poetry
in Pindar, a literarily self-conscious passage discussed in Horace Odes2.20; on swan imagery in
Alexandrianpoetry,esp. Callimachus,and also in Roman literature,see below, nn. 12-13.

49
PHOENIX,VOL. 58 (2004) 1-2.
50 PHOENIX

island of Diomedeia, off the coast of Apulia, a group of herons that fawned on
Greek visitors were said to be the companionsof Diomedes. The next known
source of the legend, Lycophron(Alex. 592-609), does not specify which kind
of birds the companionsof Diomedes were, but offers a detailed accountof the
birds' lives on Diomedeia, paying particularattention to their habit of fleeing
the arrivalof barbarians.3Vergil, Ovid's prototype,is likewisevague (aves,Aen.
11.273), although certainlyawareof a numberof additionaltraditionsabout the
adventuresof post-Homeric Diomedes and his settlementin Italy.4
There is little doubt that Vergil'saccountof Diomedes (Aen. 11.243-295) is
the principalsource of inspirationfor Ovid.5 The authorof the Metamorphoses
has self-consciouslyremainedclose to Vergil'stext, followingthe same storyline,
and even maintaining an almost identical verse count. Ovid's account opens,
as in the Vergilian model, with Venulus, the Rutulianambassador,arrivingat
Diomedes' city to ask the Greek warriorto join the fight againstAeneas (Met.
14.457-458). Consistent with his appearancein the Aeneid, the Greek hero,
himself an exile in the pursuit of a new life under a new identity as son-in-law
of the Apulian king Daunus, refuses to join the Rutulianforces (excusat,Met.
14.462). The Ovidian hero's story, however,both replicatesand distancesitself
from the recollectionsof his Vergilian counterpart. Diomedes experiencesthe
same set of adventuresin both poems,6 but each narrativecenters on different
episodes.7 This apparentand no doubt intentional contradictionalso reflects
the different issues that each text addresses. Vergil's characterhighlights his
Homeric memoriesand deliversan ethico-moraldissertationaboutthe character
of Aeneas, in compliancewith the Aeneid'smajortheme of the portrayalof the
Roman epic hero. The Ovidian hero, on the contrary,in accordancewith the
theme of change that dominates the Metamorphoses, opts to devote the greater
part of his narrativeto the transformation of his companions. And yet, the

3Fora completelistof ancientsourcesonthebirdsof Diomedes,seeForbesIrving1990:230-232;

Bbmer1986:150-151;Thompson1936:88-91.
4See thecompletecollectionof thesesources,withbibliography, in LIMC3.1,s.v."Diomedes I"
andEnciclopedia Virgiliana1, s.v. "Diomede."
5 the metamorphosis of hiscomradesbeforetheeyesof Diomedes,Ovidindirectly
By describing
admitsthathis primarysourceof inspiration wasVergil,whowasindeedthe firstto altertradition
that the transformation took placeafterthe deathof Diomedes:see Enciclopedia Virgiliana1, s.v.
"Diomede," on
p. 81; pre-Vergilian versions the
concerning natureof the birdsof Diomedes, see also
DellaCorte1972:19-21 andGage1972:763-764.The intertextual relationshipreceivesadditional
supportin the numerous verbalechoesbetweenthe Ovidianandthe Vergiliantexts(Met.14.457-
Aen.8.9; Met.14.527 - Aen.11.227;Met.14.469- Aen.11.258;Met.14.474-475- Aen.11.259;
Met.481 - Aen.11.260).
6This textualproximitycontrastswith the radicalrestructuring of thoseotherVergilianunits
selectedforadaptation in the"littleAeneid" TheAniusstory,theSiciliantales,
(Met.13.623-14.608).
the encounterbetweenAchaemenides andMacareus, Aeneasandthe Sibyl,andthe transformation
of Ardeaarethe othermajorepisodescomprising Ovid'sversionof theAeneid.The Diomedesunit
aside,allareprofoundly differentfromtheirostensibleVergiliansources.
7Hinds(1998:116-119)offersaninsightfulcomparative discussion of thetwospeeches.
 SWANIMAGERYIN OVID'SMETAMORPHOSES 51

two narrativesare brought together by the fact that both are self-consciously
metaliterary.
Within Vergil's epic, Diomedes is the only prominent Greek veteran of the
Trojan campaign to appear. As the only hero who had fought with (and nearly
killed) Aeneas on the battlefield(Iliad 5), he has unique,immediateexperienceof
the Trojanhero'sbattleprowess,and is arguablythe second"bestof the Achaeans"
after Achilles in the Homeric world. What is more, traditioncredits Diomedes
with a post-Homeric set of adventuresstrikinglysimilarto Aeneas' own. After
the end of the Trojanwar the Argivewas forcedout of his fatherland;experienced
a long series of adventuresat sea (including an affairwith an African princess
which ended tragically);and eventuallysettledin Italy(Apulia),where he married
the daughterof a local king.8The legitimate (Homeric) alterAchilles, then, and
a (post-Homeric) doublet of Aeneas, with exclusiveexperienceof man-to-man
combat againstthe son of Venus, Diomedes is uniquelyqualifiedto pass weighty
judgment on Aeneas' overall conduct, and thus to establishthe Trojan leader's
claim to epic heroism and leadership.
Indeed, when Diomedes refuses outright to engage anew in battle against
Aeneas and praiseshis formeropponent,he raisesissuesthat single out the unique
synthesisof the Trojanleader'smerit.Accordingto the new criteriaset out by the
son of Tydeus for determiningthe preeminenthero of the age, martialexcellence
is inseparablytied to moral eminence. The combinationof supremevirtus and
pietas, absent from the world of Homeric heroic axiology, holds central place
in the Aeneid because the two qualities are intertwinedin the portrayalof the
Roman leader. Aeneas, who exemplifiesboth, deservedlylays claim to the title
of pater of a reinventedTroy, and is rightlychosen to survivethe fall of the old
epic world. The transition to the new epic era is capturedin the appearanceof
Aeneas and Hector side by side at two points in Vergil'sepic. In Book 2, the
ghost of Priam's son, the Homeric "bestof the Trojans,"visits Aeneas' dreams
and entrusts to him the survivalof Troy's future (2.268-297). This transference
of power is sanctified, in a symmetricallyplaced attestation (11.285-292), by
Diomedes' objective assessment (expertocredite,11.283) of Aeneas' character,
which is now compared directly to Hector's own: amboanimis, ambo insignes
praestantibusarmis,/hicpietateprior ("bothrenownedfor courage,both eminent
in arms;Aeneas rankedhigher in piety,"11.291-292). The latter, the mightiest
Trojan warrior, is judged inferior to Aeneas, the Roman leader, who is both a
superbfighter and a living exampleof impeccableethical responsibility.
The transformationof Diomedes' companionsis irrelevantto the characteri-
zation of Aeneas, however. The miraculousevent is listed at the end of a series
of punishments that befell the Greek leaderswho survivedthe Trojan war on
their way home, as a result of their repeatedviolations of pietas. Significantly,

80n the presentationof Diomedes in the Aeneid as successorof Achilles as much as Aeneas'
2000:193-217.
andduplicate,see Papaioannou
forerunner
52 PHOENIX

Diomedes' most outstandingachievementin his Homeric career,his victoryover

Aeneas and subsequentwounding of Venus (Aphrodite)as she rushesto save her
son (1. 5.297-330), is condemned as a dark and shameful act, the source not
only of embarrassmentbut also of endless labor. By including in this series of
punishments the transformationof his comrades,which functions as the loss of
his last contact with his Homeric past, Diomedes canonizesthe ethical code of
heroic behaviorpresentedin the Aeneidby contrastingit to the Homeric heroic
model, epitomized in his conduct in the Iliad and now discredited.
The transformationmiracle per se does not have a place in the Vergilian
Diomedes' line of argumenteither:hence Vergil passesover the event summarily
and does not specify the birds' identity. By contrast, a detailed metamorphosis
finds itself at home in Ovid's carmenperpetuum.Ovid'sconcernto stressthat the
metamorphosedcomradeslook like but are not swans, might well obscureless
obvious associations. But the frequentpresenceof this particularbird, carefully
interspersedthroughout the Metamorphoses as we shall presentlyobserve, owes
much to the popularityof the swan as a symbolof literaryinspiration.
In the Aeneid, Diomedes' oratory praising Aeneas as the exemplar of the
new epic hero captures the essence of Vergilian epic, an intellectual product
gravelyconcernedwith literary,and more specificallyHomeric, successionwhile
employing its narrativeof the past to constructan ideology for the present. In
refashioningDiomedes Ovid also seeks to enter the discussionof epic succession.
Keen to challenge and rival Vergil, the poet of the Metamorphoses composes
a mini-Aeneid where he recasts certain Aeneidic episodes that exemplify, in
Hinds's view (1998: 116), Vergil'sversionof the Iliad "atits most self-consciously
Homeric." Ovid includes Diomedes' speech among them for good reason: in
the characterof this Greek hero Vergil had found the opportunityto projecthis
understandingof epic appropriationand definition. Likewise, Ovid adapts and
translatesit so as to coherewith his own articulationof a new, or ratheralternative,
epic project.The majorissues of epic successionand re-interpretationin Vergil's
Aeneid,succinctlycapturedin Diomedes'reconciliationof ethics andepic heroism,
evolve into a broaderand more complexgenre anxietyin Ovid'sMetamorphoses, a
carmenperpetuum that lacks a single unifyingtheme and protagonist yet advertises
itself as carmendeductum.9Indeed, in addition to recordingan actual, physical
transformation,the Diomedes episode must have looked particularlyattractive
to Ovid for its potential to sustain a metapoetic subtext. As we shall see,
Vergil's Diomedes reproducesmany facets of Aeneas' characterin the poem,
including that of the substituteepic poet. Ovid, an extremelycarefulreaderof
the poem [sc. the
9Aptly capturedby Harrison (2002: 89): "Metamorphosisis the theme of
Metamorphoses],both in terms of its formalcontent, and in termsof its genericvariety.Genres appear
and disappearand aretransformedinto each other throughthe long courseof the poem, following its
aretransformed
(1.1-2):literaryforms
explicitprogramme of poeticwork."Harrison's
intonewbodies
articleoffers an excellentbrief overviewof Ovid's life-long experimentationwith genre. Once again,
the inclusion of multiplegenres in Ovid's epic has a precedentin the Aeneid;cf. Hardie 1986.
 SWAN IMAGERYIN OVID'SMETAMORPHOSES 53

Vergil, masterfullyadaptshis work to promote the metaliteraryaspectof his own

Diomedes speech. The swan motif, adeptlyplaced at the very conclusion of the
unit, is well chosen to embody both literary ambitions and anxieties. I shall
first highlight the frequentand regularpresenceof the swan in the course of the
Metamorphoses, and then analyzethe literarydimensionsof everysingle one of the
attestations.Subsequentlythe focus will move on to Diomedes and his figurative
role as an epic poet, first in the Aeneid and then in his later appearancein the
Metamorphoses, where Ovid employs him to articulatethe antagonisticspirit of
his epic.
We may begin by consideringthe swan-likefriendsof Diomedes. Acmon, one
of the hero'scomrades,wearyof the prolongedtoil (14.475-482),tauntsVenus
(483-495) and she, in retaliation,transformshim and his companionsinto birds
that closely resembleswans:10
Dicta placentpaucis,numerimaiorisamici
Acmonaconripimus; cui respondere
volenti
vox paritervocisquevia esttenuata,comaeque
in plumasabeunt,plumisnovacollateguntur
pectoraque et tergum,maioresbracchia pennas
accipiunt,cubitiquelevessinuanturin alas;
magnapedisdigitosparsoccupat,oraquecornu
induratarigentfinemquein acumineponunt.
HuncLycus,buncIdas et cumRhexenoreNycteus,
huncmiraturAbas,et dummirantur,eandem
accipiuntfaciem,numerusque ex agminemaior
subvolatet remosplausiscircumvolatalis:
si volucrumquaesit dubiarumforma requiris,
ut non cygnorum, sicalbisproximacygnis. (Met. 14.496-509)

Few approvedof his words.We, the greatestnumberof his friends,upbraided Acmon.

And when he was aboutto reply,his voice and throattogethergrewthin; his hairwas
changedto feathers,andfeathersclotheda new-formedneck,chest,andback.His arms
acquiredlargepinion-feathers and his elbowscurvedinto nimblewings; his toes were
replacedby webbed feet andhis facegrewstiffandhorny,endingin a sharp-pointed
beak.
Lycus viewed him in wonder,as did Idas,Rhexenor,
Nyctaeus,and Abas; andwhile they
wondered,theytookon the sameform.The greaternumberflewup in a flockandcircled
roundthe rowerswith flappingwings.If youaskaboutthe shapeof theseindeterminate
birds,whiletheyarenot swans,theywereverylikesnowyswans.
The swans in Metamorphoses 14.508-509 conclude a series of seven other refer-
ences to these birds (2.252-253; 2.369-374; 2.536-539; 5.385-387; 7.371-381;

of Diomedes'comradesas a punishment
10Bydepictingthe transformation inflicteduponthem
abusingVenus,OvidmovesawayfromtheVergilian
afterverbally narrative
wheretheirpunishment is
viewedas a resultof Diomedes'woundingof Aphroditeon theTrojanbattlefield
(Aen.11.271-277).
54 PHOENIX

12.71-167; 14.429-430), includingthreedifferentaetiologiesof theirorigin. Car-

riersof literaryassociationsas earlyas their attestationin the poetryof Hesiod,"
the swans are linked directly with the persona of the poet in Callimachus.12
The link was imported into Roman literatureby Lucretiusand was extensively
employedby the Augustanpoets,13especiallyby Ovid, where the swan appearsas
a symbol of literarycriticismon three other occasionsin the poet's corpus.14
The attestations in the Metamorphoses likewise carrymetapoetic overtones.
The first one situates the birds by the river Cayster and the Maeonian
banks:15 et quae Maeonias celebrabantcarmineripas/flumineae volucres,medio
caluereCaystro("and the swans which were accustomed to throng and sing
by the Maeonian streams, were scorched in the midst of the Cayster,"Met.
2.252-253). In this Ovid follows Homer (II. 2.459-463), the earliest attes-
tation of the Caystrian swan, and especially Lucretius (DRN 2.344-345).16
Met. 2.369-374 describes the transformationof Phaethon's friend Cygnus
into a swan. Cygnus' lament over Phaethon's body in Aen. 10.185-192 is
Ovid's primary model for a passage that brings together traditionalepic and
elegy, both erotic and mournful, while also emphasizing the key vocabu-
lary and linguistic tropes of Callimachean poetics.17 The Homeric swans

11Inthe HesiodicShieldofHerakles, a flockof swansdecoratesthe rimof the shield,wherethey

appearby the riverOceanusanduttera sound(314-317). As Donohue(1993:20) observes,the
termemployedto describetheirvoice(ijnuov,316)occursalsoin the poetryof Homerfor
particular
thesoundof thelyre(Od.17.271).The association of theswanwithpoetryis established in theminor
Homeric HymntoApollo(21),wherethe swansaccompany Apolloandsingin honorof thegod,who
in turnrespondswith his lyre.Notably,the poetof the Hymnemploysthe sameword(Xtyup6;),a
termlaterto becomea technicaltermforlyricpoetry,forbothswansongandApollo'smusic.
12Theidentification is explicitin Callimachus'HymntoApollo; cf. Donohue1993:27-28 on the
identificationof theliteraryswanwiththeApollinepoetin theCallimachean corpus.
13As Hinds (1987: 47) observes,"TLLand OLD betweenthem offerelevennon-Ovidian
examplesof swans(cycnus or olor)envisagedspecifically as singingbirdsfrompoetryup to the endof
the Augustanperiod.In no fewerthannineof these,thereareclearevocations of 'poetsandother
literarymen'."Donohue(1993:18-34)tracestheliterary associations behindtheswanmotifin Greek
andRomanpoetryfromHomerto Ovid. On metapoeticswansespeciallyin Augustanpoetry,see
alsoThompson1936:178-87;NisbetandHubbard1978:333-334,ad Hor.Carm.2.20;Ahl 1982:
373-377.
141nall theseinstancesthe poet/speaker is compared to a swan.At Her.7.1-2, the swan(olor)is
associatedwithDido, the poeticsubjectandauthorof theepistle.At Fast.2.108-110,thelyreplayer
Arionis comparedto a "cygnus," whilein Tr.5.1.11-12,Ovidlikenshisownpoeticselfto the swan.
Cf. Hinds1987:149, n. 65.
15Fora detailedtreatment of swansinMetamorphoses 2, seeKeith1992:137-146,witha discussion
(137-140) of the literaryassociations of the firstOvidianswanepisode,includingits debt to the
Homerictext.Keith(137-138,n. 5) followsHinds(1987:44-48).Neitherscholar,however, connects
the "swan-like" companions of Diomedes with the list of Ovid's swan manifestations.
16Cf.Bornmann1967:44-50; Cameron1995:355, n. 67.
17Keith(1992:140-144)exploresthe literaryassociations of tenuataandquerellis in the transfor-
mationof LigurianCygnusin Metamorphoses 2. The adjective tenuisis a widelyusedLatintranslation
an importantliteraryterm in Hellenistic literature.It would be worth drawing
of the Greek XhETtg6,
 SWANIMAGERYIN OVID'SMETAMORPHOSES 55

of the river Cayster, and with them the allegiance to and acknowledge-
ment of the literary model, return in Met. 5.385-387 with the swans of
Enna.18
The transformationof Cycnus the son of Hyrie into a swan (Met. 7.371-381)
closely echoes that of Phaethon'sCygnus. The main characterof the story, the
spoiledpuer Cycnus,jumps from a high rock into a lake in selfish revengewhen
his lover Phylius, indignant, refusesto surrenderthe prize of the last in a series
of hard labors. The fall is cut short by Cycnus'change into a swan. In despair,
the boy's mother, Hyrie, consumes herself in tears and eventuallyturns into a
lake bearing her name.19Hyrie'spathetic transubstantiationinto water0 largely
anticipatesthe next manifestationof the literaryswan in the figureof Canens in
Book 14, who similarlyweeps until she dissolvesinto thin air. The parallelsthis
episode shareswith that of Phaethon'sfriend and Canens'metamorphosisinvite
the readerto view Ovid's swans as successivestagesalong the same narrativeline.
Before he narratesthe fate of Canens, Ovid (12.46-145) tells the story of
Cygnus, son of Neptune, a Trojan warriorwho confronted Achilles and was
eventually transformedinto a swan. This marvel (12.141-145) concludes the
single combat between the two warriors. Book 12 records Ovid's adaptation
of the Iliad, his most direct confrontationwith traditionalepic. The single
combat between Achilles and Cygnus summarilyreplicates-and parodies-the
Iliadic battle scenes that have been left out.21What is more, Nestor's subsequent
narrativeof Caeneus,the transgendered,immortalwarriorand centralcharacterof
the mock-epic Centauromachy,revivesthe Cygnusepisode and ridiculesAchilles
by assimilating him to Caeneus' opponents, the Centaurs. Concealed behind
Nestor's narrativepersona, Ovid claims control over epic tradition,and in a way
redefinesepic poetry and the essence of heroism.22

attentionto the suggestivesimilaritybetweenLiguriaand the Greekadjective or Xtyup6;

h•t•y6
("subtle," likewisea keyword
"tender"), of Alexandrian poetics;cf.Ahl 1982:389.Admittedly, Liguria
and Xtyup6cdo not seemto be relatedetymologically, yet the formertermmighthavereminded
Ovid'sreadersof the verbligur(r)io,-ire ("lick,sponge"),whichaccording to Donatusderivesfrom
the GreekwordXtyup6;(cf.Maltby1991:341).The samelinguisticpunis echoedin thedescription
of the dyingCanenslaterin Metamorphoses 14,whichwasalsoinspiredbyVergil'sdescription of the
deathof Phaethon's lover.
18Hinds1987:44-48; Keith1992:138-140.
19Ovid'semphasison Cycnus'homoerotic dearlyassumesthatthe readerhasalready
relationship
tracedthe connectionof Phaethon's Cygnusin Book2 to its Vergilianprototype(Aen.10.186-193)
andviewsthe OvidianandVergilianpassagesascomplementary.
20Water,presentin allsevenswanpassages in theMetamorphoses, is animportant symbolof poetic
initiationasearlyasHesiod(Theog.39, 83-84, 97) andbecomesa locuscommunis of poeticinspiration
in Hellenisticpoetry,especiallyin Callimachus; see Cameron1995:363-366;alsoWimmel1960:
322-337;Crowther1980:1-11; Knox1986:107-119.
21See,forexample,B6mer1982:55-56,withearlier Ellsworth1980.
bibliography,
22On the variousmetaliterarylevelsof the Centauromachy, andits centralrolein understanding
Ovid'sversionof the Iliad,see Papaioannou 2002; Keith1999:231-238;O'Bryhim1989;Bomer
1982: 60-62; Zumwalt 1977.
56 PHOENIX
The Canens episode, and especiallyits conclusiondescribingthe transubstan-
tiation of the nymph (Met. 14.416-434), develops the most prominent literary
claims.23 Ovid comparesthe nymph to a dying swan: verbasonotenui maerens
fundebat,ut olim/ carminaiam morienscanitexequialiacycnus("shepouredout her
mournfulwords attuned to grief, just as sometimes in dying, a swan sings a last
funeralsong,"14.429-430). The comparisonis modeledafterthe transformation
of Phaethon's lover in Aen. 10.185-193. Both Cygnus and Canens mourn pas-
sionately the untimely and tragic loss of their beloveds (crimen,Amor, vestrum,
Aen. 10.189; luctu... Phaethontisamati, 191; maestum... solaturamorem,193; cf.
luctu,Met. 14.426; cumlacrimisipsomodulatadolore,428; maerens,429; luctibus,
431). Cygnus' mourning is likened to a song (canit ... Musa solaturamorem,
Aen. 10.191), while Canens'lament sounds similarto the song of the dying swan
(carmina... canit, Met. 14.430) and, qualifiedas tenuis(sonotenui, 14.429), is
thus glossed as eruditepoetry.24All in all, the sequenceof literaryswansthrough
the Metamorphoses forges a chain that strengthens the narrativecontinuity of
the poem and underlines its forwardmomentum.25 The swan-like friends of
Diomedes fittingly form its concludinglink, as they are likewise engaged in the
authorialdiscourseon poetics, mediatingOvid'sclaimto be Vergil'sepic rivaland
successor.
When Vergil'sDiomedes expresseshis admirationfor Aeneas and, with him,
the virtues of the (Roman) epic hero reinventedin the Vergiliantext, Diomedes
personifies the voice of Homeric epic singing the praisesof Vergilian epic. A
closer look at Diomedes' speech in the Aeneidis rewarding.The hero'spersonal
version of the Trojanwar and its aftermath,obviouslypartialalbeit projectedas
objective (expertocredite,283), has precedentsin Aeneas' own interpretationof
the muralsin the temple of Juno in Aeneid 1 and in his accountof his life story

23On the programmaticfunction of the Canens episode in

determiningthe unifying themes in
the remainderof the poem, see Myers 1994: 112-113. She also discusses(109-113) the association
of Canens, whose very name derivesfrom cano,"to sing,"with both Orpheusand the Camenae, and
the poetological implications;see also B6mer 1986: 143-144, ad 14.433-434; Michalopoulos2001:
48-49. On Canens and Circe as two opposing aspectsof singing (innocent song of the Muses vs.
magic incantations),see Spahlinger1996: 161-174.
24See, for example, Keith 1992: 141-142, with ampleparallelsand bibliography.
25The theoretical backgroundof narrativeprogressionsupportedby the recurrenceof specific
themes along the course of the Metamorphoses lies at the center of Wheeler's argument (2000).
Wheeler posits that Ovid's narrativeplan relieson "twogenerativeprinciples:repetitionand narrative
continuity. That is, Ovid continues his poem and defers closureby repeatingnarrativepatternsand
linking episodes in continuous narrativesequences"(5). In the course of his study Wheeler detects
recurrentthemes and considers how severalpassagesseeminglyunrelatedand situated at a distance
from one another cohere to impartstructure.Wheeler does not discussthe presenceof symmetrical
Otis's
patterns in the recurrenceof episodes and motifs, although his thesis owes much to Brooks
classic treatment of the Metamorphoses (Otis 1970: esp. 45-90) as a continuous narrativeof unity
whose shifting thematics are tied together by structuralsymmetry.Schmidt 1991 and Ludwig 1965
are two significantstudies concerningthe fundamentalrole of repetitionof form and content in the
Metamorphoses' dynamicsof continuation.
 SWANIMAGERYIN OVID'SMETAMORPHOSES 57

during and after the fall of Troy in Books 2 and 3. In fact, the selection of the
pictorialnarrativesthat decoratethe temple is Dido's, yet we see them in the order
chosen by Aeneas and we observethe details that Aeneas picks out (or wishes us
to pick out). In this way, we receive an alternativeaccount of the Trojan saga,
an epic-within-an-epic, since the praemia laudi (1.461) on the murals actually
describe (and in a way paraphrase)kleaandron.Commenting on 1.457 (bellaque
iamfamatotumvulgataperorbem,"warsalreadyspreadin fame throughthe whole
world"),Barchiesistressesthe poetological nuancesheraldedin this opening line
of the ekphrasis.He notes that these "wars,"in realitythe Trojan saga, have lost
originalityand hence appealsince they have become familiarthrough continuous
oral performancesand the inclusionof individualepisodes in other epics. Vergil's
(and Aeneas') task is to step outside the overlyfamiliarepic Cycle, and write his
own, new, epic.26The same play on words, urging differentiationfrom an epic
tradition,may be read in Dido's askingAeneas at the end of Aeneid 1 to narrate
his own adventures,to define his own epic space. Dido's invitation follows a
series of questions about the Trojanwar that rehearsethe familiarepics. Aeneas'
personal,originalaccountin Books 2 and 3 of the fall of Troy and his subsequent
adventures,is the new epic Dido craves. Diomedes' personal memories of the
Trojan war and its aftermathin Book 11 recast in condensed form the same
metaliteraryambitions. The new interpretationof the hero's attack on Venus
and an equally unusual, or ratherunexpected, analysisof the nostoicombine to
producean original,individualnarrativeof familiarepic material,a new epic.
Ovid's Diomedes is likewise keen to make a statement concerningpoetics as
he comes to grips with his Vergiliancounterpart.As Hardie has pointed out, the
alleged impartialityof Diomedes' speech in the Aeneid could weigh heavilyupon
the decision-making process of the Latins with respect to the continuation of
warfareagainst Aeneas. Thus, king Latinus urges Venulus to report Diomedes'
reply as accuratelyas possible: responsareposcit[sc. Latinus]/ ordinecunctasuo
("Latinusasksfor his [Diomedes'] responses,each in its order,"11.240-241). The
envoy, who realizesthe weight of the eye-witness factorin Diomedes' testimony,
hastensto comply, firstby stressingthat the embassyactuallysaw and touched the
Greek hero (vidimus... contigimus)who had himself seen and touched Aeneas,
and secondlyby reportingDiomedes' words in direct discourse.27These issues of
directness,objectivity,and accuracylargelydeterminethe inclusionof Diomedes'
speech in the Aeneid and naturallyattractthe focus of Ovid's attack. Whereas
Vergil had VenulusreportDiomedes' words, Ovid stagesthe narrativemoment at
an earliertime, when Diomedes deliveredhis "original"speech. Since the hero in
the Metamorphoses emphasizesdifferentevents and substitutesthe transformation
of his comradesfor ethics as his core theme, the audienceis bound to question
26Barchiesi1994:118.
27Hardie (1998: 254-256) discussesDiomedes' replywithin the context of the rhetoricaldistortion
that underlies the council of the Latins in Aeneid 11, where objectivity and partialityare hard to
separateand epicfama and invidia intersect.
58 PHOENIX
the credibilityof Venulus'report in the Aeneid. Ovid thus exposes the rhetorical
distortion in the speech of Vergil's Diomedes, along with its literary-critical
potential.
The poetic anxietyandcompetitivenessin the Diomedesnarrativeappropriately
culminate in the implementation of the swan imageryat its conclusion. As we
have seen, Vergil's Diomedes relies on traditionalepic themes, the Trojan war
and the nostoi,in a narrativeneither unbiasednor objective.Indeed, for Hardie,
the hero becomes an internal narratorof epic events, much like the Homeric
Phoenix or Odysseus in Phaeacia, and a score of secondarynarratorsin the very
text of the Aeneid whose presence, among others, challenges the authorityof
the primarynarrator.28Hardie furtherobservesthat these internalepic narrators
actuallyreflect "thepoet's work within his text"and "mightbe thought to be the
product of the late stages of a traditionthat has become overlyself-conscious,a
developmentthat will reachits logical conclusionin the plethoraof figuresof the
poet that inhabit the pages of Ovid's Metamorphoses."29 Thus Vergil'sDiomedes
is identified with Vergil, while his Ovidian counterpartacts out Ovid's narrative,
and the centralnarrativetheme representsthe generic affiliationsof the respective
works.30
The metamorphosis narrativewhich dominates the Ovidian version of the
Diomedes story (14.483-509), raisesagainthe issues of genrethe poem addresses
throughout. The emphasis on change, as the details of the transformation
supercedemore straightforwardlyepic material,figuresthe shift in the narrative
focus and poetics of the Ovidian episode as a whole. The detailed account of
the transformation,however,employs languagethat drawsthe element of poetics
back in, as it echoes the metamorphosisof Phaethon'sCygnus in Book 2, and
alludesto a similarplay with multiple genres.
Indeed, Cygnus and Diomedes' comradeAcmon follow a parallelcourse in
their respective transformations. Initially, both perceivetheir voices becoming
progressivelymore attenuated:Met. 14.498, vox ... vocisquevia est tenuata("his
voice and throat ... grew thin"), is repeatedverbatimfrom Met. 2.373, vox est
tenuata. These passages are the only two occasions in the entire Ovidian poem
where the terms vox and tenuataappearin associationwith each other. Then the
metamorphosisaffects the two heroes' hair, areasaroundthe neck and torso, all
of which are graduallycovered with feathers: in Cygnus' case, canaequecapillos
dissimulantplumae ("white feathers cover his hair,"2.373-374), while Acmon
sees his hair undergoing an identical change: comaein plumasabeunt("his hair
was changed to feathers,"14.498-499). Again the presenceof coma/capilliand
pluma/pennain the same narrativeunit is not attestedin the Metamorphoses outside
these two episodes. Next, the detailed coveringof Acmon's neck, chest, and back
by feathers, plumis nova colla teguntur/ pectoraqueet tergum,maioresbracchia

28Hardie1998:257-259.
29Hardie1998:259-260.
30Hardie1998:260, drawingon Martin1989.
 SWANIMAGERYIN OVID'SMETAMORPHOSES 59

pennas/accipiunt ("andfeathersclothed a new-formed neck, chest, and back;his

arms acquiredlarge pinion-feathers,"14.499-501) is summarilyreflected in the
similar change affecting Cygnus' body: penna latus velat ("featherscovered his
side," 2.376). Finally, both Cygnus and Acmon see their fingers changing into
webbed feet (magnapedis digitospars occupat,"his toes were replacedby webbed
feet,"14.502; cf. digitosligat iunctura,"amembranelinks the toes together,"2.375)
and their faces assume the shape of a beak (oraquecornuinduratarigentfinemque
in acumineponunt,"andhis face grew stiff and horny, ending in a sharp-pointed
beak,"14.502-503; cf. tenetossine acuminerostrum,"hisface held a non-pointed
beak,"2.376).31
And yet, the birds of Diomedes are clearly not swans, since their beaks are
pointed, contraryto that of the swan. Not fortuitously,in this last set of parallels
Ovid introduces the only notable difference between Cygnus and the birds of
Diomedes. What is more, this assertionof differenceis pairedwith vocabulary
that carriesliteraryconnotationswhich underscorethat these new birds partake
of the poetological associationstied to the swans. Significantly,the word acumen
is not employedelsewherein Ovid'stext to describea bird'sbeak;it does however
often connote shrewdness,keennessof mind, and subtletyof speech.32Likewise,
the term os has been previouslyemployedin Augustanliterature,in the very text
of the Aeneid, to signify not merely "speech"but "speech differentiation":ora
sono discordiasignant ("markour speech different in tone," Aen. 2.423). Thus,
when Ovid/Diomedes remarksat the conclusion that his friends assumed avian
shapes similar to but not identical with the form of the swan, he espouses the
literary complexity and multiple genre associations that the swan symbolizes,
all the while respecting the tradition of the vague identity of these birds. The
deep-rooted correlationof the swan to poetic inspiration, and by extension to
one's models, moreover, becomes for Ovid a foil for the definition of his own
literaryindependence;Diomedes' quasi-swanssymbolizeOvid's stake in the epic
world, similarto and yet separatefrom the one occupied by Vergil.
DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AND PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
P.O. Box 20537
CY 1678 NICOSIA
CYPRUS psophia@ucy.ac.cy

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