The Bees of Rome: Representing Social and Spiritual Transition in Victorian Poetry

In Book VI of the Aeneid, Virgil used bees to lgure human spirits in the Underworld. This was not the earliest association of bees with death and the afterlife, but it was the lrst such link in European literature. Virgil’s bees lgured those spirits who would become Aeneas’ descendants, future citiz...

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Autres titres:Special issue: Bees and Honey in Religions
Auteur principal: Wright, Jane 1978- (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Equinox Publ. 2020
Dans: Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture
Année: 2020, Volume: 14, Numéro: 3, Pages: 395-411
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Vergilius Maro, Publius 70 avant J.-C.-19 avant J.-C., Aeneis 6 / Apidés (Famille) / Mort / Großbritannien / Culture / Histoire 1837-1901 / Littérature / Spiritualité
RelBib Classification:AG Vie religieuse
BE Religion gréco-romaine
CE Art chrétien
KBF Îles britanniques
Sujets non-standardisés:B Browning
B Virgil
B Michael Field
B Catholicism
B Anglo-Catholicism
B Bees
B Dante
B Tennyson
B Christina Rossetti
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Résumé:In Book VI of the Aeneid, Virgil used bees to lgure human spirits in the Underworld. This was not the earliest association of bees with death and the afterlife, but it was the lrst such link in European literature. Virgil’s bees lgured those spirits who would become Aeneas’ descendants, future citizens of Rome. This moment in Pagan mythology had a remarkable literary afterlife in the work of (among others) Dante, Milton, Tennyson, Browning, C.G. Rossetti, and Michael Field, for each of whom (according to his or her religious faith) the bees were variously linked with Christ, Lucifer, France, Rome, the Saints, and both personal and national spiritual transition. Elucidating apian allusions in these poets’ works, I explain how the bees became poetical lgures for social and spiritual upheaval (at once dangerous and creative) and for the vital presence of the non-human (or angelic) in spiritual life.
ISSN:1749-4915
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.38586