Women's value in Lucan's Bellum Civile

Abstract

When viewing Lucan's Bellum Civile, a tendency arises to read it in fragments-- each episode meant to draw the reader's mind to other authors before pivoting to the next horror of war. This stylistic choice leads scholars to address Lucan in the same manner, and his female characters, already neglected, fall victim to this. For my thesis, I examine the internal commentary that Lucan's female characters present. Chapter 1 argues that the female companions develop a coherent breakdown and rebuilding of the expectations for women in war. Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia reveal the failure of proper virtues; Cornelia's masculine devotion to Pompey enables her to become a new, acceptable model for women; and Cleopatra shows what happens when a woman strives for too much. Chapter 2 covers Lucan's gendered portrayal of divination. Male haruspices fail, as their technical approach separates them from the gods. The matron, Julia, and Phemonoe undergo forced prophecy as divine forces compel them into movement and truth. Erichtho upends the pattern as the predator herself, forcing a male corpse to do the work for her and dominating the gods. Rather than reading the gods as absent from Lucan, they are present, particularly Apollo, but relegated to female voices, unable to change the male character's actions. While Lucan does support proper gender roles in peacetime, he plays with gender as a part of the disorder of civil war. By reading the female characters internally, Lucan becomes more coherent than his episodic narrative appears.