Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University
Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University
Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University
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<strong>Final</strong>ly seizing the moment, Arruns 263 hurled his spear<br />
From the ambush and called upon the gods with this prayer:<br />
Greatest of gods, Apollo, guardian of holy Soracte,<br />
Whom we, before all others, worship, for whom the burning pine<br />
Is fed in a heap, and for whom we worshippers walk<br />
Through the midst of fire supported by our piety and<br />
Press our feet on many live coals… 264<br />
Vergil’s mention of Apollo Soranus refers only to the Hirpi’s rite of walking through fire; there<br />
is no mention of wolves. Servius, however, points out that the priests were called the Hirpi, or<br />
wolf-men since hirpus is the Samnite word for wolf, due to their ritual of an animal masquerade.<br />
Servius recounts a story in which the Hirpi dressed as wolves in order to drive away a pestilence,<br />
which they brought upon themselves by following a pack of wolves to their lair after the<br />
creatures had stolen a sacrifice to the god Dis Pater. 265 In this context, Apollo is shown in his<br />
traditional role as the bringer and averter of disease, one of the earliest guises he took in both<br />
Greece and Italy. 266<br />
Apollo’s lupine guise has stimulated much controversy, 267 but it may seem more natural<br />
given the chthonic associations of Apollo’s son, Aesculapius, who is closely linked to the<br />
serpent, and Leto’s taking the form of a wolf for twelve days while she was pregnant with<br />
Apollo. 268 Also, the wolf’s dualistic nature as both a friend and enemy to man is mirrored in<br />
Apollo’s capacity to both inflict and cure disease. 269 Unfortunately, this is the extent of our<br />
knowledge of this cult of Apollo. We do, however, possess one more reference to a connection<br />
between the Samnites and wolves, and that is through the name of two Samnite tribes, the<br />
Hirpini and the Lucani. Both of these tribal names mean “wolf-men” and were acquired by the<br />
Samnites after their founding a settlement to which they were led by a wolf during the Samnite<br />
263 It is interesting to note that the character calling on Apollo Soranus is an Etruscan.<br />
264 Verg. Aen. XI.783-8. Latin Text taken from Virgil Aeneid 7-12, The Minor Poems, Vol. 2, edited by G.P.<br />
Goold, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard <strong>University</strong> Press, 1998, p. 288. (Translation by Author.)<br />
telum ex insidiis cum tandem tempore capto / concitat et superos Arruns sic voce precatur: / 'summe deum, sancti<br />
custos Soractis Apollo, / quem primi colimus, cui pineus ardor acervo / pascitur, et medium freti pietate per ignem /<br />
cultores multa premimus vestigia pruna…<br />
265 Servius Ad Aeneid 11.785.<br />
266 Burkert (1985, 145-7) points out Apollo’s role in the Iliad as the bringer and averter of pestilence.<br />
267 Miller 1939, 36.<br />
268 Aris. Hist. An. 580a14. Leto disguised herself as a wolf in order to escape Hera’s anger over Zeus’ philandering<br />
behavior.<br />
269 In his capacity to bring plague and diseased, Apollo is also associated with the mouse as Apollo Smintheus.<br />
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